The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth said,
“The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.”
Our culture would say that the concept of surrender is a sign of weakness, defeat and dependence. Many would raise their fist in defiance, saying, “NEVER SURRENDER!” We see this in some political candidates who refuse to “concede” defeat. A posture of surrender isn’t about powering up, but humbly bowing low. Not many in our culture aspire to be the best at “giving up and waving the white flag,” and certainly not many songs are written extolling the virtues of surrender.
Henri Nouwen wrote:
“I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her vulnerable self... to enter into a deeper solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success and bring the light of Jesus there.”
(From the book: In the name of Jesus: Reflections on a Christian Leadership)
Certainly, there is dissonance in a quote like this for me. There can be a fear of missing out, being overlooked, or wasting your life or influence. You might ask, how can you be “completely irrelevant” and be a dynamic world changing leader?
Surrender As Modeled by Jesus
The answer is probably in the person of Jesus. According to most of the world, He wasted His life by laying His life down, living in relative obscurity. Jesus was seen as irrelevant by the vast majority of the population of the first century.
The point Nouwen makes is that we are not to pursue influence over others through gaining and keeping power over them so as to force others to live as Jesus taught, but rather, true power is found when we take the same posture and approach as our Savior. It is when we serve, we love, we give, and most importantly, trust the working of the Holy Spirit living in us that we reflect our Lord.
All of this requires conceding that our way is not best, so we will follow the way of our Rabbi, Jesus. The whole of our relationship with God starts with surrender and requires a constant yielding to Him, day by day for our entire life.
Surrender Is Central to our Faith.
Last Sunday, Pastor Chris Balint preached a powerful, divinely inspired message on this topic. The Lord inspired me to write a song to share called “Surrender.” You can hear both the message and song online. Click here to access our Audio recording and YouTube links on our website.
I decided to explore the concept of surrender a bit further with Chris on my podcast in a 15 minute conversation. I also included the live recording from Sunday of the song I wrote and sang with my bride Linda. Generally you can expect a 6 - 10 minute devotional style teaching from me on my Andrew Burchett podcast. However, this week's podcast is a bit different because it is a conversation with someone instead of a monologue. Click here to catch the podcast on Spotify.
Chris Balint said,
“Surrender is NOT self reliance, but GOD compliance.”
"I will choose to surrender to God because He is good, faithful, and loves us.”
May the Lord help us to come into agreement and alignment with His Holy Spirit as we grow more and more as Sons and Daughters of the King!
I invite you to join with us in our 10:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Service in the Dome.
You can also live stream our service on Facebook and YouTube at 10:00 a.m.
